Rebirth
by EnigmaticAssassin
Summary: French-Hungarian artist Bettina Percee has received an offer that is bound to change her life forever. Will she accept the offer? Please read and review!


Bettina Percee sat in her quarters within the headquarters of the French Assassin Brotherhood, putting the finishing touches on a portrait of her idol, Master Assassin Elise de la Serre. Ever since the passing of her sister, Eliza, in 1798, the Assassins took her in for refuge, and after a few short months, allowed her to live within the The candle flickered in her room, and with every time it did, lit up her quarters.

 _Just a little bit more red over here,_ Bettina thought to herself, as she added some red to an outline on Elise's robes.

"There we are. Looks perfect!" Bettina said to herself, as she set her palette of paint down. "I'm hoping Madame de la Serre will love it."

Bettina let out a deep sigh, and wiped the sweat away from her forehead. She looked down to her shirt, which had red and black splotches on it. Bettina frowned.

"Oh my goodness!" Bettina exclaimed, as she tried to clean her shirt in vain. As she was trying to clean her shirt, she heard a feminine voice.

"Bettina, are you alright?"

Bettina looked up, her jaw dropped, and her eyes opened wide when she saw who was standing in her doorway. It was none other than her idol, Elise de la Serre, who was wearing a smile on her face. The woman who was behind the assassinations of Peter Carroll, Louis de Gaulle, Herve Sonnar, and most important to her, Isaac Bellec, was standing in her doorway.

"Madame Elise!" Bettina exclaimed, as she continued to rub her hands across her shirt, trying to get the paint off of her shirt. "Just let me get this paint off of my blouse..." Elise placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder.

"Relax, Bettina. Relax." Elise reassured Bettina, as she began to calm down. Elise knelt down to make eye contact with her. "I have a proposition I would like to share with you."

"What is it?" Bettina asked eagerly. Elise looked down at Bettina's shirt.

"Get dressed first, and then meet me outside of your door." Elise replied, as she got up from her knees. "I don't want you going into the main hall with a messy blouse. I will see you in a few minutes."

Bettina smiled. Elise turned around to walk out the door, and saw Bettina's painting.

"That's a beautiful painting, Bettina. I love it!" Elise said, with a wink and a smile.

Bettina smiled, and watched as Elise walked out the doorway, and shut the door behind her.

"I've got to find a cleaner blouse." Bettina told herself, as she pulled off her dirty blouse. She walked over to her closet, and sifted through it, looking for a clean white blouse. She smiled when she found one. She then put her arms in the sleeves, and slipped the blouse over her head.

"Ah, there we go." Bettina said, taking a deep breath. She then walked up to the mirror in her room, and looked at her reflection. Her hair was a mess.

"I can't go to the Main Hall with hair like this." Bettina muttered to herself. She walked over to her nightstand, and grabbed a hairbrush. She ran the hairbrush through her long, red hair several times.

"There we go." Bettina told herself. "Much better. Now you can go to the main hall without looking like a mess."

Bettina let out a deep sigh, and opened the door, where Elise was waiting for her. Elise was playing toy blocks with her two-year old son, François. Elise scooped up François, and looked over at Bettina.

"You look nice, Bettina." Elise said, flashing a smile. Bettina watched as Helene, Elise's nanny, came over to put François in his crib for a nap. Elise kissed François on the forehead, and handed him to Helene, who took him to Elise's room.

"Thank you, Madame Elise." Bettina replied, with a smile coming over her face. "If I may ask, what is your proposition?"

Elise's smile returned to her face.

"It has been brought to my attention that the Council has given me the approval to pick my first Assassin apprentice. I was wondering if you were interested." She stated. "Do you accept?"

Bettina gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Yes, I accept!" Bettina exclaimed, as she hugged Elise. Tears began to roll down her face as Elise patted her on the back.

"It's all right, Bettina." Elise said, placing her hands on her shoulders. "It's all right."

Bettina wiped the tears away from her face, and began her walk to the Main Hall alongside Elise.

 _I wonder why she would choose me,_ Bettina thought to herself, as she made the long walk down the hallway. Looking around, she noticed the walls around her were rough and rocky, much like a cave, and lit with torches. As the pair entered the Main Hall, she watched as Elise hugged her husband, Master Assassin Arno Victor Dorian, and behind them, the members of the Assassin Council were standing. Bettina saw them all. Masters Herve Quemar, Guillaume Beylier, and Assassin Mentor Sophie Trenet elevated over the three Assassins below them.

Elise walked up to Bettina, and stood beside her.

"Council of the Assassin Brotherhood of France." Elise stated boldly. "I have chosen a worthy Apprentice, and her name is Bettina Percee!"

Bettina's mouth opened ever so slightly upon hearing the word 'Apprentice'.

"Very well, Elise." Trenet replied, with a curt nod of her head. " The candidate may approach."

Bettina took a couple of steps forward.

"Bettina Percee, the daughter of Melinda Bodi and sister of Eliza Percee, has come to us." Trenet stated. "Why?"

Bettina gulped, and looked back up at the Council members.

"My mother was an Assassin in Hungary, and the same with my sister here. I feel like it is my destiny for me to follow in their footsteps."

Trenet nodded her head, as Quemar and Beylier joined her at her side.

"Elise picked well." Beylier stated, with approval.

"She looks like she has the potential." Quemar added.

Trenet nodded her head with approval. Quemar and Beylier left Trenet's side.

"Very well." Trenet stated. "Out of the dark, you come into the light. From the light, you will return to the dark. Are you prepared to travel the Eagle's path?"

Bettina gave Elise and Arno a nervous look, but returned her focus to the Council members.

"I do." Bettina replied, bowing her head.

"Then drink." Trenet replied, extending her arm to the goblet before her. Bettina approached the goblet, grabbed it, and took a sip of the enigmatic liquid. She dropped the goblet immediately, and fell to her knees, where she began to hallucinate.

 _I looked around. Throngs of people surrounding a demonic machine. I saw a woman with her hands tied behind her back. My mother. I rushed through the throngs of transparent people, towards the guillotine, hoping to save her. As I was running, they placed her in the stocks, and clamped them shut. When the blade sliced off my mother's head, an unknown force stopped me._

 _"Mother! No!" I shouted, as a large hole appeared under the guillotine. I reached out to no avail, and got sucked in to the abyss. I landed with a thud outside Saint-Chappelle cathedral, to discover a spectral apparition of Élise de la Serre discovering the corpse of my sister, Eliza. Walking up to the corpse, I gasped in horror, as the face on my sister wasn't my sister's. It was my own. I screamed, but nothing came out. I watched as the apparitions vanished. Just as quickly as the two apparitions disappeared, I saw the apparition of my mother standing before me, in her Hungarian Assassin robes._

 _"This is the path you are destined to follow, my daughter." My mother's apparition started. "Follow it, and live your life well."_

 _"There is nothing to be afraid about." A voice from behind me said. "We will be with you every step of the way."_

 _I turned around to see the apparition of my sister standing behind me. She placed her hand on my shoulder. As she did, I suddenly returned to the real world._

"La shay' haqiqah, koulo shay' moumkin". Trenet stated.

"These are the words that lay at the heart of our Creed."

"Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent." Beylier stated.

"Hide in plain sight." Quemar added.

"Never compromise the Brotherhood." Elise stated.

"Let these tenets be branded upon your mind." Trenet said, raising her arm. "Follow them, and be uplifted. Break them at your peril. Rise, Assassin."

Bettina stood up on Trenet's command. Elise handed Bettina her red and black Apprentice robes. Arno walked up to Bettina, and pointed at her left arm. Bettina extended her left arm, allowing Arno to place the hidden blade onto her left wrist. Bettina smiled, and extended her hidden blade.

"Bettina Percee is dead." Trenet stated. "She has been culled from this world, with her past sins turned to dust. Tonight, she is reborn, a novice of the Assassin Brotherhood."

"Thank you, Mentor." Bettina replied, as Elise approached her. Elise extended her left arm, and looked at Bettina. Bettina shook her Mentor's hand, and hugged her. Elise patted her on the back.

"Welcome to the Brotherhood, Bettina." Elise said, as they broke off the hug.

Bettina smiled, and accompanied her mentor out of the main hall, eager to begin her training as an apprentice of the French Brotherhood, while keeping the legacy of her mother and sister alive.


End file.
